Wordless Wednesday – zzzzzzzzzzzzz

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I'm a long time banker having worked in banks since the age of 17. I took a break when I turned 50 and went back to school. I graduated right when the economy took a turn for the worst and after a year of library work found myself unemployed. I was lucky that my previous bank employer wanted me back. So here I am again, a long time banker. Change is hard.

Made me laugh! Interesting place to snooze. We have quite a few black color variants on gray squirrels here. They seem to appear in waves; some years I see lots, other years, none.

Interesting that the Wikipedia post on your eastern gray squirrels mentions the variants: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_gray_squirrel — ” Particularly in urban situations where the risk of predation is reduced, both white – and black-colored individuals are quite often found. The melanistic form, which is almost entirely black, is predominant in certain populations and in certain geographic areas, such as in large parts of southeastern Canada. Genetic variations within these include individuals with black tails and black-colored squirrels with white tails. (See Tree squirrel for more information on these color variations.)”

Ah! Very interesting, I didn’t know this: “Three species of tree squirrels live in the Bay Area: the Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus Carolinensis), the Eastern Fox Squirrel (Sciurus Niger), and the Western Gray Squirrel (Sciurus Griseus). Of these three, only the Western Gray Squirrel is a California native, and its status is of concern to naturalists.” So very possibly the black ones we see are your same Easterns. (Short article here: http://www.wcsv.org/education/species/western-gray-squirrel/)

I know! This disconnectedness is wonderful for learning new stuff. I’ve never seen a white squirrel, but apparently they’re common not too far from here. Black squirrels are new here in the past 2 years. Used to be we had regular brown squirrels and that was that. But stuff changes.